Petersburg's COVID cases fall 16.3%; Virginia cases plummet 29.6%

Mike Stucka USA TODAY NETWORK
·4 min read
Nurses Debbie Black and Rachel Lee double check a COVID-19 vaccine dose for a child during a vaccine clinic in Hamilton, Massachusetts, on Sept. 9.
Nurses Debbie Black and Rachel Lee double check a COVID-19 vaccine dose for a child during a vaccine clinic in Hamilton, Massachusetts, on Sept. 9.

Virginia reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 7,098 new cases. That's down 29.6% from the previous week's tally of 10,080 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Virginia ranked 32nd among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 19.4% from the week before, with 323,859 cases reported. With 2.56% of the country's population, Virginia had 2.19% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 10 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Petersburg reported 36 cases and no deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 43 cases and no deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 9,348 cases and 144 deaths.

Colonial Heights reported 20 cases and no deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 25 cases and no deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 5,924 cases and 106 deaths.

Hopewell reported 11 cases and one death in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 26 cases and one death. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 7,163 cases and 121 deaths.

Prince George County reported 36 cases and no deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 68 cases and no deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 10,737 cases and 82 deaths.

Dinwiddie County reported 19 cases and no deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 32 cases and one death. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 6,767 cases and 101 deaths.

Sussex County reported five cases and one death in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 12 cases and no deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 2,688 cases and 44 deaths.

Across Virginia, cases fell in 108 counties, with the best declines in Henrico County, with 191 cases from 382 a week earlier; in Loudoun County, with 284 cases from 460; and in Arlington County, with 245 cases from 391.

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

Within Virginia, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Dickenson County with 217 cases per 100,000 per week; Giles County with 185; and Norton County with 176. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Fairfax County, with 982 cases; Virginia Beach County, with 366 cases; and Prince William County, with 312. Weekly case counts rose in 20 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Harrisonburg, Amherst and New Kent counties.

In Virginia, 80 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 90 people were reported dead.

A total of 2,087,360 people in Virginia have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 21,849 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 96,397,885 people have tested positive and 1,059,605 people have died.

Note: Johns Hopkins University data includes Virginia's independent cities as counties in the listing. There are 133 "county" entries in the data. In cases with naming conflicts, the independent city will be marked with "City County," such as "Fairfax City County" and "Fairfax County."

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

Virginia's COVID-19 hospital admissions falling

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Oct. 2. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 1,618

  • The week before that: 1,667

  • Four weeks ago: 1,986

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 51,355

  • The week before that: 53,692

  • Four weeks ago: 61,434

Hospitals in 17 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 25 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 17 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Petersburg reported 36 additional COVID-19 cases this week